Flattened Pepsi can is the perfect size for my tank!

I never appreciated the versatility of duct tape before I became a motorcyclist. Last weekend, at the dinner that followed a memorial service for one of my dearest friends’ father, I found myself recommending duct tape as a way to handle a big pan of leftovers.

Duct tape for leftovers

You know those aluminium roasting pans? The kind you buy in the grocery story and (usually) throw away? One of them was nearly full after everyone had gone home and the clean up crew was deliberating over how to store the leftovers. “Sheesh, that’ll take 4-5 gallon bags,” one of them estimated.

I suggested taking another of the pans and placing it on top of the full one, like a roof, then sealing the seam with duct tape.

My friend’s mom, the widow, laughed and said that solution was something her husband would have come up with. Evidently he was a duct tape guy, too. She asked me how I came up with the idea and I said, “I’m a biker. We use duct tape for everything!”

Duct tape saves the day while riding off road in Nevada

Admit it, you wish YOU owned zebra-striped duct tape!

I broke my gas cap hinge in Sault Ste Marie (stay tuned for that story tomorrow!) and it finally bobbled off while riding off road with others at the American Motorcyclist’s Women’s Conference in Carson City. Fortunately I was with a bunch of adventure riders who know and are prepared for field repairs!

We took a flattened Pepsi can to lay over the hole, followed it with a red shop rag, then duct taped the heck out of it to stay put. The really exciting part of that repair was the fashionable zebra stripes on the duct tape. I never knew!

Ah, duct tape. My love for you knows no bounds.

Send me YOUR favorite duct tape story please. I’ll come up with a “best of duct tape” post soon.